A Story about Reps, Rolling Pins, and Beauty in the Mundane

Making Yourself A Priority

Good evening, friends and neighbors! I apologize for the silence on here as of late, and for the lightness of this evening’s post.

Over the last two weeks or so, I’ve been reorganizing and tidying up this blog, and it’s kinda gotten in the way of researching and writing. Between that and working on the upcoming book, most of my creative energies have been pulled away.

The good news, however, is that not only will this blog be a bit easier and more enjoyable to read, it will also be better to write. Here’s why:

Making Changes

I have been writing “On The Bench” for the last four years.
It’s more than a little crazy for me to think about- thank you all for coming along on this never-ending road trip through the culinary world!

When I started out with the blog, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I just knew I had some words in my head, and I wanted to write them all out. In practical terms, this began as me screaming into the void.

It applies to projects too- and specifically where you choose to invest your energies.
If you want to build something wonderful, or even just improve yourself, you need to make yourself a priority.

Recently, my older sister Stephanie decided to run a time management coaching workshop- mostly for people who claim that they “can’t find the time to exercise.” I signed up to help her test-run it. I already had my workout regimen down pat, and- being in the restaurant biz and all- I figured I already knew a thing or two about how to allocate my time, and maybe I could point out some spots for improvement.
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You know, being a good little brother and all.

After our first talk, I kinda realized that I was throwing my energies everywhere except where I wanted them to go, and driving myself crazy doing it.

After writing down all my goals- and especially my motivations for them– Steph charged me with looking at my day and figuring out where my energies and time should be spent.

With the new job having me work nights, I realized that my mornings were entirely my own again. Mornings are when I always have the most energy- it’s when I exercise, and I always am most creative while I’m running or shortly thereafter.

I had a perfect time to devote my best, more creative energies to making my blog and book work!

At first, I thought it was a bit limited- only a couple hours a day.
That’s when the baker’s side of my brain kicked in, and the “Always Be Moving” kitchen mentality.

Yes, those few hours in the morning would be ideal for writing, but I also had:

40 minutes on the bus each way (great for writing, making notes, Duolingo, or reading)

Time before and immediately after work, sitting outside (perfect for working on the book)

from calmer-you.com

Once you start to realize what’s important- you can make it important. Scrolling through Facebook or Pinterest on the bus suddenly becomes “Why am I sucking time away doing something aggravating, when I can be doing something that makes me happy?”

All that probably sounded really preachy- and a lot of it REALLY sounds like common sense, doesn’t it? I mean, who WOULDN’T make such a simple choice- work on a project that’s meaningful, or burning their eyes out on social media. Cat videos don’t get you closer to what you want, and the latest memes will (probably) still be there later. Who WOULDN’T make the wise decision?

Honestly? The majority of people don’t. I sure didn’t for a long time- or at least, not for everything.

I blame adorable cat videos.

The truth is, most of us of working age have been trained for a LONG time to put our needs and loves second. That our best energies belong to our employers, and that anything we chose to do later had to be done exactly then- later, and with whatever energy we had left.

To get what you want out of life- to meet your goals, to get the job you love, to just enjoy your life and family and everything else- you need to MAKE YOURSELF A PRIORITY.

Your health should be more of a priority than how easy it is to get fast food.

Your family and loved ones should be more of a priority than burying yourself in work when you get home.

The things that bring love, light, and joy to your life should be a priority. PERIOD.

I’m deciding to make this blog a bigger priority in my life- that means using my time and scheduling things out so I can write posts that will help you, my readers.
I’m making the book a priority, because finishing it is important to me.

Finding time will not be as tricky as you think- after all,
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you always have time for the things you make time for.

So, how are your priorities looking? Some time today, when you have a quiet moment, think about what you want. What you want to get, what you want to create. Make them priorities, make yourself a priority, and make a plan.

Meet the BHB!

The BHB, a.k.a Matt Strenger, is a Jersey-born baker and writer living in Portland, Oregon. He bakes, exercises, runs, reads, and explores- then returns to his wife and cat in their hobbit hole up Mt. Tabor to write about all of it.